[MassHistPres] Church sues over district creation

[Tucker, Jonathan]

My sense is that these questions have been asked and answered in the
courts before, and that Springfield Archdiocese is, eventually, going to
lose.

 

They seem to be asserting that a church, like recognized tribal lands,
is a separate political entity under the Constitution, and that the
disposition of its property, including land, is an integral aspect of
the practice of their religion and so cannot be unreasonably constrained
by secular law.  They're wrong about where that separation falls, of
course, but it must have been fun and somewhat cathartic for them to
file the suit.

 

Jonathan Tucker

Planning Director

Amherst Planning Department

4 Boltwood Avenue, Town Hall

Amherst, MA  01002

(413) 259-3040

tuckerj at amherstma.gov   

 

 

 

 

From: masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu
[mailto:masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu] On Behalf Of Brian Yates
Sent: Monday, January 25, 2010 11:51 AM
To: Ralph Slate
Cc: MassHistPres MA
Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] Church sues over district creation

 

If the building is no longer a church, how is the Free Exercise of
Religion restricted?

On Thu, Jan 21, 2010 at 7:21 PM, Ralph Slate <slater at alum.rpi.edu>
wrote:

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield is suing the city for
including a church in a historic district:

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/roman_catholic_diocese_of
_spri_7.html

It's safe to say that this case has enormous impact on historic
preservation in the state.

The basis for the suit is that historic designation of the church
violates freedom of religion, speech, expression, assembly, and equal
protection guaranteed under both the US and Massachusetts constitutions.
The church is looking to nullify the district and is also seeking
compensatory damages.

The church is advancing the theory that the district was created with
unnecessary haste, and out of political expediency.

It is important to note that the church is no longer serving as a church
-- it has been closed, and presumably deconsecrated. So even though it
looks like a church, it is just a building now.

Ralph Slate
Chair
Springfield Historical Commission

******************************
For administrative questions regarding this list, please contact
Christopher.Skelly at state.ma.us directly.  PLEASE DO NOT "REPLY" TO THE
WHOLE LIST.
MassHistPres mailing list
MassHistPres at cs.umb.edu
http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/mailman/listinfo/masshistpres
********************************

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/mailman/private/masshistpres/attachments/20100125/3606f8ff/attachment.htm>